Content Knowledge
The following content knowledge is included to provide kid-friendly explanations for unfamiliar words or content that may arise in the unit. The type of fruits and vegetables being taught in the unit can be changed.
Information on Fruits
There are many types of fruits. Just to name a few there are tropical, citrus, tree, berries, melons and exotic fruits. A fruit usually has a seed on this inside and grows on a plant such as a tree, bush or on a vine. They are usually edible and most of the fruits are sweet. A fruit is made up of a lot of water, just like the human body. They are good for your body. You can buy fruits at the grocery store or at fresh fruit stands.
Information on Vegetables
There are also many types of vegetables. There are three main ways a vegetable can grow. Root vegetables grow underground. It is important that you be patient with these vegetables because if you pull them out of the ground before they are fully grown, they will not produce a very good crop. The second way vegetables can grow is on a vine. This includes the big, heavy ones like pumpkins, squash, zucchini, and cucumbers which lie on the ground. There are also smaller, lighter ones like peas, beans and tomatoes. These vines are usually tied to poles or nets to help the vine grow upward. The third way vegetables grow is that they sprout up above the ground with strong roots holding them up, also called, shoot vegetables. Some examples are broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, cabbage and Brussels sprouts.
Asparagus
Asparagus is a shoot vegetable that grows from the ground out. It requires time for it to grow and usually grows in not too hot and not too cold places. We like to eat the stalk and the tip of the asparagus. When you make a salad with asparagus it usually makes the salad look nice because of the weird shape that it has. Asparagus is a good source of a vitamin called folate, which is important for healthy blood.
Avocado
An avocado is often mistaken for a vegetable because we eat it like a salad vegetable, but it is actually a fruit because it has a big seed in the middle of it. It grows on an evergreen tree in warm places. Avocados are at their best when they are ripe and very easy to prepare. They can be cut in half with the seed removed and eaten with a little salad dressing, chopped into a salad or you can eat it all by itself. It usually feels squishy when it is in your mouth. Avocados are a good source of good essential fats that help your heart to stay healthy. The fat in an avocado is the kind of fat that is good for your body.
Broccoli
Broccoli is a vegetable that reminds me of a tree because of the way that it looks. It grows in rows similar to lettuce and grows very well when the weather is cool, not hot. If the weather is too hot, the broccoli will not grow. It has a lot of Vitamin A which helps your eyesight.
Brussels Sprouts
Brussels sprouts are a vegetable and look like mini cabbages. They grow out of the ground in knobby rows on a long tough stalk. They contain loads of vitamin C. Vitamin C helps your body to heal cuts and bruises and to fight colds.
Eggplant
An eggplant is a fruit that grows on a vine, kind of like a tomato. It requires plenty of warm sunlight in order to grow to a perfect size and ripeness. An eggplant is healthy in many different ways. It is a major source of fiber which helps your stomach to get rid of all the food in it.
Fig
Figs are soft sweet fruits, full of small seeds and often eaten dried. They grow on trees in a warm place where it does not rain too much. If it rains too much when they are growing, the fig will split open and they will not grow anymore. Fresh figs are delicious and the fig can be made into jam. A fig can be eaten fresh or it can be dried. Figs are a good source of potassium which helps lower blood pressure.
Grapefruit
A grapefruit is a fruit and grows on a tree just like oranges. Grapefruits help you to not eat too much food because it makes your stomach feel like it is full. It is high in Vitamin C which helps your skin to stay smooth.
Jicama
A jicama is vegetable that grows on a vine like a bean in warm places. The skin on the jicama looks similar to a potato but the skin is thick and cannot be eaten. DO NOT eat the leaves on the jicama because they are poisonous. It is high in Vitamin C which helps your bones to stay healthy.
Kiwi
A kiwi fruit is hairy on the outside and soft in the middle. It is one of the only fruits to be green when it is ripe. You can scoop out the juicy green flesh with a spoon just like a boiled egg! One kiwi fruit contains all the vitamin C you need for a whole day. Vitamin C helps your body to heal cuts and bruises and to fight colds.
Diabetes
To understand diabetes we need to understand what happens to all the food we eat. When we eat our body turns the foods into a kind of sugar called glucose. Glucose is used by the body for energy that we use to help us run, skip, play, swim and even think! You are supposed to have sugar in your blood, but when you have too much sugar for a long time then it turns into diabetes.
Type 1 Diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is usually called insulin-dependent diabetes or juvenile diabetes. When a person has type 1 diabetes, the pancreas in your body cannot make insulin. When you eat, the food you eat still turns into sugar but it can’t go to where it is needed. Since it doesn’t go anywhere, then it starts to build up and that is when you start to get sick. A person who has Type 1 diabetes requires insulin treatment on a daily basis. They will either have to give themselves a shot or they use an insulin pump.
Type 2 Diabetes
When a person has type 2 diabetes, the pancreas still makes insulin. But insulin doesn't work in the body like it should and the blood sugar levels start to get high. Your body works extra hard to make the insulin that it needs and soon it gets tired. Usually doctors will prescribe medicine to people who have type 2 diabetes and they tell you that you have to start doing a lot of exercise if you want to help your body.
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